Under the background of construction of ecological community in the Yangtze Economic Region，green development shall play an important role in many aspects. As a crucial element of green development，green consumption shall also be promoted proactively. This article analyzed firstly relationship between the promotion of green consumption and the protection of water resource，and pointed out that the green consumption is necessary for the protection of water resource in Yangtze Economic Region. As “The Four Centers” and the most downstream city of the Yangtze River，Shanghai has many advantages for dealing with promotion of green consumption and also protection of water resource based on that promotion. However，Shanghai has also some disadvantages. By promoting green consume，there are challenges from consumers’ conscious，need of market，production，circumstance and externality of consume. By water resource protection，difficulties come from coordination of riparian cities，backwardness of the current legal regulations，and the construction of the circular economy. Shanghai must have a proactive attitude to face these challenges. Its government should play a leading role，which can build a foundation for the beneficial interaction of government，enterprises，consumers and the other participants. This article is meaningful for Shanghai to play a leading role in the construction of the ecological community in the Yangtze Economic Region，and also for Shanghai's promotion of the green consumption. It is also important to further consideration on the environmental protection in the Yangtze River，the enhancement of the circular economy system，and the improvement of the related legal regulations of the green consumption and of the water resource protection.