Jyoti Mhapsekar has ideas on low-cost ways to reduce the world's carbon burden. As president of the Parisar Vikas women's waste-pickers cooperative in Mumbai, India, and a climate activist, she has first-hand experience in an industry that is not only one of the cheapest ways to reduce emissions. Recycling is one of the "low-hanging fruit" solutions to climate change: it creates more jobs for the poor than many other options (and already provides work for an estimated 1% of the population in developing countries), and costs significantly less than most other options. Yet climate financiers have largely overlooked the contribution of grassroots efforts like sorting waste, small scale organic agriculture, and community controlled water power.

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