Could you live on £1 a day? That’s the challenge being laid down this year by the Live below the line campaign. Between the 2nd and 6th of May, participants in the Western world will join the 1.4 billion people who do it every day out of necessity, and try and spend just £1 a day on their food and drink.
It sounds like a really neat idea. As well as gathering sponsorship to do it and raising money for development, there’s no way you can take part in the scheme without involving people around you. If you’re doing it right, you’d have to be counting yourself out of the tea round at work, or drinking water at the pub. You would need to explain yourself repeatedly over the course of the week, and it would start all kinds of conversations about poverty and development.
Want to take part? All the information is here, and here’s a little video to pass around:
The challenge is organised by the Global Poverty Project, whose UK office is just down the hall from mine. They’re the folks behind the 1.4 billion reasons presentation.
The Earthbound Report 
Hoping to step it up this year from 7-11 May and if some people are looking for a little extra inspiration to take on the challenge this year they might like to follow my progress from April 6 as I do a cycling presentation tour while Living Below the Line (eating on less than US$1.50/day) http://lunnyLBTL.wordpress.com It is the best development action and learning I think anyone can take in the minority world (developed countries).