WHEREAS some people do their bit for the environment by either recycling, buying local produce or reducing their energy usage at home, Peter Herbert likes to take it a bit further.

His environmental beliefs have taken him all the way to Greenland, where he embarked on the biggest education-focused British polar expedition delivered directly into schools.

The 45-year-old, from Ottery St Mary, was joined during the adventure last year by polar explorer Alan Chambers, leader of the first British team to get to the North Pole from Canada.

It was done through the Feet of Green project, run by Peter, Alan and doctor Richard Hale, who both live in Bristol, and each had different skills to make the mission a success.

Their idea was for school-aged children to join them on the voyage and to inspire them to believe that they can make a difference, but from the safety of the classroom via the latest technology.

To make the journey as environmentally friendly as possible, the team looked at everything from the way they communicated with the UK, to how much fuel they used during the month-long expedition.

They were recently awarded an Eco Heroes award at the Eco-School Awards for making the issues surrounding climate change relevant to young people after the team communicated with schools daily during the expedition.

Revealing how the idea came about, Peter, an aircraft engineer with experience in expedition technical support, recalled: "I thought if we could take everything that goes into an expedition, from organising it to the trip itself, and deliver it as live as you can so that you're getting raw footage back to the classroom, it would help inspire young people.

"We picked Greenland as it's the world's second-largest ice cap and decided we would video it as we crossed it and send it back to schools via the internet and satellite communication on a daily basis."

Finding the means of doing that proved much harder than Peter anticipated. A global search eventually came up with the perfect answer that did what they wanted while also fitting in with their green ethos.

Peter, a father-of-four, said: "To send back videos in high definition would have cost as much as the entire cost of the trip because satellite time is so expensive.

"I did a global search and spoke to the Norweigan military which uses a solar-powered system.

"It meant we didn't need to take huge batteries as we knew our sledges would already be very heavy — 18st each — with communication and scientific equipment.

"The solar panels powered everything, including two laptops, cameras and all the satellite communication equipment, and the batteries could be charged within two hours."

When it comes to technology, Peter is a firm believer that it holds the key to solving many of the world's environmental problems.

He said: "I don't believe there is a reverse gear when it comes to human progression.

"We strive to move in a forward direction all the time to evolve.

"There is no way anyone would go back to riding horses and pulling carts. I believe what will make a massive difference is technology.

"One of the biggest issues for me was the fact young people need to get to the truth to be able to see the core problem.

"At the moment there is so much media hype, commercialism, misleading information and environmental trends.

"On our trip I wanted to cut through that and allow youngsters to see the facts themselves. We saw with our own eyes that the ice is breaking up. It was because of climate change that two days before we got to our final destination, where we would make our last descent off the ice cap, we got news from the local Eskimos that the area was already breaking up so we would not be able to cross it. We were picked up by a dog-sled team instead."

The challenge for the Feet of Green team this year is to raise £20,000 to sponsor the launch and running of Feet of Green Challenge Clubs, adventure or achievement clubs in schools.

Peter explained: "There are lots of schools doing some amazing things like cutting down their carbon footprints.

"Our idea is to set up a website for the clubs with a sub-website which they will edit under supervision to show what they are doing for other schools.

"Part of that would also be to take a small group of secondary school-aged children on a ten-day expedition to the Arctic Circle.

"Feet of Green started off small but the opportunities we have had since have been incredible.

"We recently went to Paris after being asked by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) to sit on the United Nation's jury for the Young Reporters Award on all sorts of environmental issues."

For footage from the trip visit www.feetofgreen.com.

To sponsor the team, email peter.herbert5@btinternet.com.