Niagara Falls’ Terrifying Recycling Mascot is Named Totes McGoats

Captain Planet may be our hero, but Totes McGoats is giving him some competition.

The Niagara Falls Solid Waste Education and Enforcement Team in Buffalo, N.Y., has introduced a new mascot to encourage kids to recycle. The goat-human hybrid—Totes McGoats—posed for several photos with local television station TWC News Buffalo.

McGoats was introduced last year as a mascot of Niagara Falls’ recycling initiative, designed to get kids and parents to recycle “for generations to come,” Brooke D’Angelo told TWC News Buffalo.

“I guess you would say Totes is a cute animal mascot, kind of scary actually,” Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster said. “But having an animal mascot we think is one of the ways that you can reach out to kids and get their attention.”

The goat-man seems to be working: before he was around, recycling rates were at a paltry 4%. One year later, the program boasts a 23% participation rate.

McGoats even has his own Twitter account, with sage recycling advice that kids these days can understand—written in emojis, of course.