Get outside: 30x30 Nature Challenge takes off, expands around country

What`s the recipe to really get outside and appreciate what nature has to offer in our device-attached world? Unplugging from our phones and other gadgets.

Thanks to armbands and earbuds, our technology follows us as we walk or jog. We listen to e-books instead of birds, our favorite lyrics instead of rustling leaves. Or, as pedestrians, we catch ourselves crossing the street while texting.

It`s just not that easy to unplug. Even leaders of the 30x30 Nature Challenge, which starts Wednesday, say so.

"I fell victim to exactly this the first time I did 30x30," said Korinne Haeffel of the U.S. Green Building Council`s Wisconsin chapter....