Maverick taps into a way to help folks get drinking water

The well will not runneth dry at the restaurants of Maverick Southern Kitchens this week, which has been designated World Water Week.

In an effort to raise money for the UNICEF/Tap Project, Maverick restaurants will ask dining guests if they wish to make a donation by paying $1 for the tap water served to each guest at the table or by leaving additional donations on their dining check.

The Tap Project raises money for the more than 1 billion people worldwide who have no access to safe drinking water, causing the deaths of almost 6,000 children per day, according to the group's Web site.

Charleston-based Maverick will provide a dollar-for-dollar match of funds raised through Saturday at its properties, which include Slightly North of Broad and High Cotton, both on the peninsula, Old Village Post House in Mount Pleasant and High Cotton in Greenville.

Green means go

Forget red and black, green seems to be the most important color when it comes to business.

Last month, the Lowcountry was introduced to its first all-organic, eco-friendly maid service, MaidPure Inc.

This month, say hello to Greenlight Delivery (greenlightdelivery.com), Charleston's first green courier service.

Co-founded by Dave and Mariah Muirhead, who moved to Charleston last year from Lake Tahoe, Calif., Greenlight Delivery has a three-pronged strategy to help save the Earth.

First, a delivery service in and of itself is environmentally friendly, helping reduce traffic, and thus the emission of greenhouse gases, by making multiple deliveries at once for several different companies.

But Greenlight Delivery takes going green a shade deeper by using the Toyota Prius hybrid as its main delivery vehicle.

The Prius is a gas/electric vehicle that doesn't emit any carbon while idling or going less than 30 miles per hour. At higher speeds, running up to 50 miles per gallon, it puts out 1 ton of greenhouse gases compared to 3.4 tons coming from traditional cars.

Greenlight Delivery also uses the Honda Fit, which was No. 5 in the Environmental Protection Agency's list of the top 10 most fuel-efficient cars of 2007. The Prius snagged the No. 1 spot.

As if that weren't enough, Greenlight also has partnered with Carbonfund, which plants one tree for every package Greenlight delivers. That's enough trees to offset the emissions produced by the company's vehicles, its employees and the electricity powering its office.

"It's a really cool program because it allows us to concentrate on our business while not only covering our pollution level, which is minimal with hybrids, but proactively exceeding it," said Dave Muirhead.

Reach Abi Nicholas at 937-5524 or anicholas@postandcourier.com.