Making an impact on the world's environment and climate change can easily start in your own back yard. And making a difference can have a minimum of impact on your wallet. Here are ten ways you can fortify your local environment for less than $0.

1. Don't litter. With over 200 million motorists in America, that one cigarette butt, soda can, or sandwich wrapper can add up to a lot of litter. Repairing existing damage begins one step at a time. Just throw your garbage away each time you fill up your car. Keeping a small container or bag in your car for trash makes this easy.

2. Recycle the basics. If your community has set up a recycling program, take advantage of it. At the bare minimum, aluminum and newspaper are very easy to separate from other household waste. You can find your community's recycling schedule (or a recycling center near you) at Earth 911.

3. Join the National Arbor Day Foundation. Promoting the preservation and growth of trees, Arbor Day Foundation membership is only $10 and includes ten free tree seedlings in your membership packet for planting in your yard or community. You can also make donations, which go towards planting trees in national forests affected by fire or insects.

4. Conserve gas. With gas prices creeping continually higher, the motivation to conserve gas should be high. If possible, try walking to more destinations, perhaps during a morning or afternoon stroll. Not only will you help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, you'll also improve your health. And it's much easier to appreciate the scenery during a walk than whizzing by in a car.

5. Use refill kits for your printer. Whether using an ink-jet or laser printer, instead of buying new cartridges, find refill kits. They can be significantly cheaper than buying new, and require less resources than new cartridges. Also, look for printers that accept biodegradable inks.

6. Cultivate your green thumb. Planting your own garden and growing your own fruits and vegetables can be a rewarding and educational experience for you and your family. Gardening also saves money at the grocery store and certainly offers fresher produce than you can find in any store.

7. Sign up for Internet banking. You can eliminate significant paperwork in your life and mailbox by switching to e-banking. You can view statements online and pay bills, and more easily manage your finances. And you can significantly reduce the amount of resources required by our financial institutions.

8. Install timers on your outdoor lighting. Purchasing and installing timers for outdoor lighting fixtures is an effective, inexpensive way to conserve electricity. Dusk-to-dawn or motion timers will keep your lights from staying lit after daybreak. Timers are also great for indoor lighting and televisions.

9. Breathe easy. Be sure to replace furnace filters on a regular basis. While this falls under home maintenance, replacing filters every six months or so can help maintain the efficiency of your furnace and conserve energy. The older a filter is, the more it gets clogged with debris and making your furnace run longer than necessary.

10. Tell a friend. A great way to help the environment is to spread the word and increase the efforts among those around you.