From scarcity to sustainability : frugal innovation in Mexico

Numerous countries of the Global South and communities in the Global North face challenges in achieving sustainable development while confronting resource scarcity and growing inequality. This research explores how frugal innovations, innovative solutions designed and implemented despite financial, technological, and material constraints, can serve as a tool for sustainable development around the world. This research focuses on two projects developed in Mexico: Novabori, a textile recycling initiative, and Hagamos Composta a composting service operating in Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica and Spain. Using a theoretical framework that integrates frugal innovation, the Bottom of the Pyramid concept, and sustainable development, this research investigates how innovators from the Global South address local challenges while offering replicable and adaptable alternative innovations. Through qualitative, community-based research, including fieldwork visits, interviews, observation, and reflective analysis, this multi-case study examines how these projects represent the principles of frugal innovation. Both cases demonstrate that innovation does not need to exclusively rely on high-cost technologies. Instead, they emphasize how collaboration, local knowledge, and networks help innovation to thrive and drive sustainability. Novabori demonstrates how decentralized production, circular economy practices, and long-term knowledge can offer a viable path toward sustainability within the textile sector, which has proven to be one of the most polluting sectors around the world. Hagamos Composta illustrates how community-based services can help to address gaps in urban waste management through low-tech solutions. Both cases show that social and ecological impact can be achieved through innovative ideas developed according to context-specific needs. This research contributes to the literature by expanding the scope of frugal innovation to include services and business models. It also offers examples of projects developed outside of the well-known countries that develop frugal innovation: India and China.