SOUTHWEST FLORIDA - You can go green by getting a hybrid. But there's something else you can do inside your car.

There's a section in Advance Auto Parts you may have walked by a million times. But stop...it could save you money.

"I've got one in my car now," said Bill Houck with Advance Auto Parts.

Houck is talking about a re-usable air filter...you never throw away. It costs a little more and there is some maintenance but customers are finding out it quickly pays for itself.

"Most of the time they just want a cheap economical air filter, but once you factor in the cost a lifetime air filter is the way to go," said Houck.

Better air flow gives you more horsepower and better gas mileage.

"In the long run you're buying one air filter and that's it," said Scott Janson of Scotty's Automotive.

We asked Janson of Scotty's Automotive to explain how to use it.

"Some of these older air filter they get really clogged up and nasty and black and it lacks air flow. It's kind of like just in your house, the air filter in your house. Where this is going to be all metal, mesh," he showed us.

You clean the filter every 50-thousand miles with a ten dollar cleaning kit.

Scott's been doing using one since he started driving.

"Everyone in my shop does," he said.

And if mechanics are doing it...maybe you should too.

You can buy the re-usable air filters at most auto parts stores. One brand is K&N. They start around thirty dollars.

The environmental impact is huge, because you're never throwing away the filter.