The greenlight movement

The GreenLight A Vet campaign is something I never heard of until this year.

I was watching my stories on the television, when a commercial came on about lighting a green light on Veterans Day to show veterans support.

I didn’t quite understand the whole concept, so I searched for more information on it on the Internet.

While on the website http://www.greenlightvet.com, I found out more about the cause. U.S. citizens are encouraged to change one of their lights to green in a visible location, such as a porch light, in the home or at the office. They’re encouraged to keep this green light glowing every day as a symbol of appreciation and support for veterans.

The website states “America’s veterans are some of our nation’s bravest, hardest-working men and women. However, it’s hard to show them the appreciation they deserve when, back home and out of uniform, they’re more camouflaged than ever. Greenlight A Vet is a campaign to establish visible national support for our veterans by changing one light to green.”

Why green?

The website explains that too. Green is the color of hope, renewal and well being. According to the website, “Greenlight” is a term commonly used to activate forward movement.

This is a great and simple way to show support for veterans. This is also something I will try to do; and I am sort of kicking myself right now for not buying a green light bulb when I was at the store this weekend.

In fact, I was really kicking myself, after I visited three different stores only to discover all of the green lights were gone. Yes, I did check the Christmas section too.

Due to a stroke of brilliance, in my opinion, I decided to return to the Christmas decoration area to look for an alternative. Suddenly, I see a couple of battery-operated candle lights, which I think will be perfect for my idea -- which is to paint a lightbulb green.

I decided I do not want a regular lightbulb because I am afraid it will become too hot and melt the paint off. As soon as I find the battery-operated candles, I head over to the craft area to find some green paint, then go to the register.

Later that day, I went home and painted my bulbs. As I waited for the paint to dry I put batteries in them. As soon as the paint dried, I screwed the light bulbs on and tried them. To my delight, my idea worked. Now, I can proudly display my support for veterans, and when I am not doing that I can used them for Christmas decorations. It is a win-win really. Even though it became a bigger project than I thought, it was still worth it and I am still encouraging others to do the same and think outside the box.

We already have blue lines to support police officers, so why not a green light for veterans? After all, they are the reason we still have our freedoms to choose what kind of a light we display on our house.