Stahlke Adoption

Green Team

According to anecdotal evidence that we've heard, children who are physically delayed prior to adoption often catch up quickly once they live in a loving, permanent home. Personally, I think the groceries have a lot to do with it. In a day our family can consume a gallon of milk, 1-1/2 loaves of bread, a package of lunch meat, a box of Pringles, a baker's half-dozen of eggs, 28 pieces of fruit/vegetables, etc.

Whatever the reason, astonishing physical growth has occurred. One of our children has gained 11-1/2 inches and five shoe sizes in less than three years. According to our pediatrician, this child has gone from the 25th percentile in height and weight to the 75th percentile. In the many years this doctor has practiced, he has never seen this kind of growth. And our other children have also gained percentile points, although not quite so many.

Our children outgrow their shoes quickly. At first, shoes were not among the hand-me-downs given to us. Lately, however, the word has gotten out, and we now receive a lot of them. Although half of our children's shoes wear out before they outgrow them, the other half survive to be passed down to the next child. I have several boxes of shoes in the basement, all sorted by gender and/or type of shoe.

Recently, the "Green Team" at our elementary school feature tennis shoe recycling as the topic of a meeting. Our three youngest children are members of the Green Team, and I am a volunteer to help the teachers manage the 40 (!) children in the club. They meet once a month after school to discuss various topics and to work on recycling projects. Nike collects old tennis shoes and splits them into their component parts to make other materials. The rubber soles are especially useful when they are ground up to make surface material for sports venues.

Now that I know where to send our used tennis shoes for recycling, I have two possibilities for extending a shoe's life. One option, of course, is to pass the shoes to the next youngest child. Once the shoes are too worn to wear, however, I'll put them in collection boxes for the Nike Recycling Center. I'm sure we'll be one of their more prolific non-corporate donors!

posted by Stahlkes @ 1:45 PM