THE NOWHERE-NEAR COMPLETE GUIDE TO ADVERTISING MASCOT SUPERHEROES: FILTH AND TRASH (part 1)

Is there any greater superhero than ... the Earth? Yes, there are many, and I don't even know what I mean by that question. Still, relatively youthful eco-friendly services have chosen to make superheroes their hallmark since, practically, the beginning. Here's a few heroes who reduce, re-use, and recycle ... except I'm not bothering with Captain Planet, because you already know that guy.

Recycle Man (Pacific Steel and Recycling)
Just a hop, skip, jump and six-hour drive from my own stamping grounds, Spokane has their own pocket superhero set, at a moment's notice, to sort bins. Recycle Man has achieved some level of success and popularity as the adjunct-mascot to the Spokane Chiefs hockey team and Spokane Indians baseball team, which inadvertently underlines a peculiar lack of imagination in Spokane's sports-team-naming arena.

Recyclone (Dunn County, WI, Solid Waste Division)
Totally shutting down the competition in the "best name for a recycling-based superhero" department, is Recyclone, whose name was the result of a contest in which two different participants submitted the same name. It's a Thunderdome situation now to find out who gets the credit. In the meantime, Recyclone also wins the "Worst name for a sponsoring organization." Let's go, Solid Waste Division!

Since I was able to find it, here's Recycline's "origin story:

"There once was a town that had no clue how to manage their trash and recyclables. Everywhere you looked there were mounds of unwanted, discarded items.  Unfortunately, the residents had no idea there was a difference between trash and recyclables and they mixed everything together. There were apple cores in with the electronics and waxed milk cartons alongside rusty old bicycles. One day a small twister appeared causing all the unwanted materials to rise into the air.  When the dust settled, all that remained were neatly separated piles of recyclables and the masked super hero ReCyclone standing nearby.  “I’m a Force of Nature FOR Nature!” ReCyclone announced. The town looked so beautiful that from that day on residents separated their recyclables just as ReCyclone had taught them and the mounds of trash were a thing of the past!"

Sounds good, sign me up!

MaxMan (Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation)
Along the same lines as the above heroes, MaxMan is a dope in a goofy-ass spandex laugh-suit, BUT ALSO it's all for a good cause so I'll be a sport about it instead of kvetching like a mook.

MaxMan has an interview online which veers into the nihilistic. Observe:

Why are you called MaxMan?I want to help people recycle to the max.
Where do you live?I live in the Max Cave, which is underneath the Central Landfill in Johnston, Rhode Island.
Is your head shaped like a bottle, or is that a mask?That is a mask, and it weighs 10 pounds. I am a human superhero inside a costume that is made out of recycled plastic.
What kind of music do you like?Heavy Metal (recycled!) and Green Day.
What do you like to eat?Mixed greens, obviously!
Do you have a special superpower?Yes, the same power that we all possess; the power to choose to save parts of the world, all the paper, plastic, containers, metal and glass. They are all created from natural resources, and it is our duty to save them rather than to waste them. We can recycle aluminum or paper over and over again, but once you throw it in the trash, it is gone forever.
What is your mission?I am here to tell you that when you are recycling, you too are a superhero, because it is the job and challenge of every superhero to help save the world. Everything that you recycle is a little part of the world. We live in a disposable culture, but the world is not disposable.

Got real heavy at the end there, MaxMan ...