RSVP volunteers, Helen Calder, Carolynn Cohron, Mary Thomas, Cecilia Miller, Beth James, and Anne Saunders. Not pictured: Andy Harper, and Mary Jackson.

Seniors at Laurel Woods Apartments in South Asheville helped launch the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program’s (RSVP), Simple Acts of Green Team in Buncombe County. Residents volunteered to stuff and decorate 17 draft-stoppers. RSVP calls them “draft-constrictors,” since they are decorated to resemble snakes. The completed “draft-constrictors have been donated to the Asheville-Buncombe Hands On to be distributed to families served by the Council on Aging and Meals on Wheels.

RSVP Coordinator Patti Cameron had this to say about the project. “Draft-constrictors are a very simple act of green with a big impact on our environment. Sealing drafts under doors and windows can save anywhere from 5 percent to 30 percent on home energy costs. Plus, that type of savings can offset close to 550 pounds of CO2 per home, which means the volunteers at Laurel Woods helped stop 9,350 lbs of CO2 from entering our environment.”

The RSVP Simple Act of Green Team is coming to Lakeview Senior Center on Friday March 12 from 11 to 2 p.m. for a “lunch and learn” workshop to make draft-stoppers, and learn more simple ways to stop drafts in the home. A light lunch will be served, and participants will be able to take a draft-stopper home with them.