The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is encouraging you to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors this Labour Day long weekend. 

Now online at natureconservancy.ca, you can find out your 'Nature Score' by completing a short quiz to determine how connected you are to the natural world. 

Andrew Holland, the national media relations director for the NCC says the quiz is a fun and easy way to gauge your current nature connection. 

"We spend a lot of time indoors," says Holland, "that's the issue. We spend a lot of time looking at our phones and our screens and TV, and the idea is to not only this long weekend, but others, get people outdoors and rejuvenated and spending time in the natural beauty that we often overlook and take for granted." 

On the quiz, participants will be asked to rate easy statements regarding your awareness of the day to day impact of your actions on the environment, how much notice you take of your outdoor surroundings, whether or not a connection to nature is part of your personal spiritual practice and more. 

"It's a very short quiz that takes roughly, not even five minutes. It can quickly asses: what is your attitude or behaviour towards the outdoors and nature? It's playful in different ways, it's kind of cheeky and fun. It's meant to sort of take a snapshot of people and how they interact with nature, what's their attitudes and behaviours about it." 

According to the NCC, a recent survey found that 87 per cent of respondents said they are happier when connected to nature. However, 66 per cent admit they spend less time in nature now than in their youth. Overall, Canadians now spend 90 per cent of their time indoors.

"More and more, we are disconnected," says Holland. "We have busy lives, our kids aren't spending time outdoors the way they used to, there's video games and screens and technology in our lives. We've been detached, we've become less connected to the outdoors, and we feel as an organization it's beneficial that people be engaged with the outdoors."

Besides the personal mental health and physical benefits to spending time outdoors, Holland also argues that there are economic benefits to maintaining accessible outdoor areas. 

"In many areas, we've had a lot of challenges in our economy. So one of the things that we have that's working in our advantage is nature, just the general outdoors. People can come from across the country and explore, see these areas, and that helps restaurants, that helps hotels, and that helps our rural communities. So not only does spending time in nature benefit ourselves, it benefits our communities."

The NCC has been working since 1962 to protect wetlands, forests, coastal shoreline areas as well as grassland areas across the country, and Holland says that an important part of their mandate is to try and connect Canadians to nature. 

In addition to taking the quiz online, you can sign up for Nature Coach, an eight-week email subscription that will provide tips and ideas for what to do outdoors.