Schools provide the perfect location for a Big Hanna. There are so many positive aspects to composting food waste at a school – as well as the usual benefits of on site composting there are clear sociological and educational dimensions, students can learn about the science of composting as well as the environmental benefits. In recognition of this Devon County Council have invested in two Big Hanna’s – a T60 installed at Okehampton College in June ’09 and a T75 for Ivybridge Community College installed in May ’10 as part of a county wide initiative to bring food waste composting to primary and secondary schools in Devon using a variety of types and sizes of technologies. Okehampton College already enjoyed an excellent volunteer scheme called ‘Growing Our Futures’ that provides students with practical experience of vegetable growing as well as the colleges kitchens with a ready supply of tasty and fresh produce and the Big Hanna has added an extra dimension, allowing the food waste to be composted and the compost to provide a growing media for the vegetable garden. Ivybridge hope to start their Big Hanna just after half term and will also use the compost for growing vegetables after maturation. You can see from the attached picture that the Ivybridge caretaking staff are taking training very seriously – and then there is always the manual in case they miss anything!