Get your trail mix ready, because this Saturday, June 28, is the fourth annual Great American Backyard Campout! Brought to you by the National Wildlife Federation, the goal is to have thousands of people across the country getting themselves out of the house and away from the TV for the night, and instead getting some quality nature time.

You can go online to the National Wildlife Federation’s website and find a group camping site, or just sign up and let everyone know you’ll be hanging out looking at the stars in the backyard. The site also offers campfire songs, activities and games, and a night watch guide to help you get prepared.

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It’s so easy nowadays to get caught up in “world issues”. By this I mean stories so dynamic they instantaneously traverse the globe through media. Burma is big and surely Cyclone Nargis victims need the world’s help (TakePart), but Myanmar also makes for great copy. An hour ago Associated Press carried its ruling junta lashing out at aid donors over all the chocolate.

But, what about less pithy or vogue causes, ones which do not shake the globe with their very mention? Do juicy/event-driven stories cause us to overlook smaller/more generic, but less urgent causes?

Cue “Sex and the City” moment: at this point I couldn’t help but ponder. Should we also spend time doing good in mundane ways?

How about sending Blind or Autistic children to Summer camp? It’s not life or death, but it sure seemed to matter to the children profiled in two very similar articles published in the L.A. Times California Local section this week. Credit the Times for shamelessly plugging their cause in the guise of newsworthy articles, and I mean that.

Donations to their L.A. Times Family Fund help give low-income children a summer to remember. The McCormick Foundation matches 50% of every dollar donated to the Summer Camp Campaign.

You may also wish to check out the American Camp Association, a non-profit with the mission of “enriching the lives of children, youth and adults through the camp experience”.

Mundane, yes. Good, also yes. Just some food for thought for all who TakePart in this sort of thing.

Ascending environmental awareness is inspiring a new wave of green technology, with some of the newer incarnations being portable music and video players. What’s so special about these portable players? They’re totally self-powered and completely off the grid - no batteries or cords needed.

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It’s sick, the amount of time we’re spending indoors leashed to laptops, mesmerized by monitors. Seriously, it’s a real disease. There’s even a name for it: videophilia.

The symptoms include apathy towards the great outdoors, as evidenced by a total lack of desire to go hiking, camping, or even just take a walk in the park. Also known as Nature-Deficit Disorder, this affliction is infecting a record number of Americans of all ages but especially kids, according to a new study funded by the Nature Conservancy.

Oliver Pergams, assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago and lead author of the study, found its conclusions “almost terrifying.” As people spend less and less time communing with nature, they lose interest in preserving our parks and wildlife and become totally estranged from the natural world. This disconnect has disastrous implications for the future of our planet.

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