I've heard the analogy that capitalism is just a clever method of converting the natural world in to garbage.

I wouldn't go that far, nor is capitalism alone responsible. I think a great deal of blame lies in the methods we've developed to keep the garbage out of site. Our manufacturing pollution is outsourced to the other side of the globe, we put our trash in black bags and have someone else bury it far away from where we live.

In space you can't hide. And that makes the problem, and the consequences, very evident.