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He's learned the best highway routes across the country, that people littler too much and that no one in Kansas throws away their underwear.

Hanket, along with his wife Susan, started traveling the country in 1993, in an effort to clean it up. The pair starting walking and collecting trash, and have since turned the experience into a teaching tool for youth.

Thursday, Hanket visited Bellaire Middle School, to persuade children not to litter and do their share to keep the planet clean. Since he and his wife started this venture, they've picked up over four tons of trash. It even led to an episode of the revived game show "To Tell The Truth," where he was the featured guest. Now, with his bicycle, Hanket makes tours to speak about the importance of a healthy environment and convinces youth to keep the planet clean for their future, and others'.

"I've picked up so much trash, it's amazing," he said. "Yet, after a while, I realized I may do better educating people to not litter, rather than pick up the trash and have someone throw more out."

For the first several years, the Hankets made their way by foot, picking up litter and depositing it at proper locations. Then they took to bicycles, which made trash collecting a bit more difficult. But they continued, traveling with camping gear to stay from night-to-night, to wake up and clean again. Hanket says he and his wife have seen many things, they never would have experienced without these mission.

"So many kind people have taken us into their homes, to let us stay the night, while we were on the road," Hanket said. "I've seen a lot of good in people. Whether they were cyclers, or teachers, or people the care about what we're doing."

The pair kept both a mental, and paper, journal of what they have picked up over the years and in that four tons of trash, have been some odd items.

"We've about seen it all," Hanket said. "We've picked up underwear off the side of the road in every state we've been in, except Kansas. We asked someone from Kansas about that, he said they Ôwear underwear in Kansas, until it's ripped, then it becomes a dust rag."

Hanket's current tour is the Great Lakes Tour, which takes him through all the midwest states. After the engagement at Bellaire, he went on to four other Michigan towns, before biking to Wisconsin and Illinois. The Colorado resident says he will continue to travel and make such visits, until he's no longer physically able.

"As long as I have the bike, some camping gear and people that will listen, I'll keep doing it," he said.