The school recently went on an excursion to Canberra and was originally meant to meet with Ms Ley there, however they were unable to so the minister arranged a visit to their campus.

A room full of students gathered to hear from Ms Ley and ask questions about the importance of the environment, what the government is doing and how to engage further.

Ms Ley discussed the importance of Materials Recycling Facilities and clean waste streams in recycling plants.

"People used to just throw things away without thinking," she explained.

The students showed their current recycling plan, using the Return & Earn program to raise money for the planned move next year. The school is hoping to use money raised through returning soft drink bottles and cans to help fund a bench made entirely of recycled plastic.

One student said that he was motivated to pursue conservation through a love of turtles. Ms Ley agreed.

"If you look in the stomachs of turtles, all of them contain plastic in some capacity."

She spoke about the Great Barrier Reef.

"The biggest threat to the reef is climate change, so along with reducing emissions, we're trying to build a resilient reef," she explained.

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"We're also running a program to kill the Crown of Thorns starfish, which is a predator that attacks coral in the reef. We've invested $2.9 billion in the reef to manage it," she said.

Olivia Johnson was at the talk, and said she thought it was important to be engaged with the environment.

"It was really good. I think it's important for us as youth to recycle for the environment and get more involved."

Miss Johnson didn't attend the Canberra trip, so was pleased that Ms Ley attended the school.

"All the stuff about endangered animals, that was good to know. The Great Barrier Reef stuff was good as well, that's really good for Australia."

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