We did a beach cleanup last summer as a Pokemon Go group, and honestly, the theme was the only reason half of us showed up. Making it a contest to see who could find the weirdest trash while hitting PokeStops kept it from feeling like a chore. It worked because it tied the boring stuff directly to the thing we already loved doing together. Got way more bags filled than if we’d just said “let’s pick up litter.” How did your group handle splitting up the work with the hero theme?
My buddy's D&D group did a park cleanup as their characters once... they kept arguing about which trash "belonged" to which monster lair. Reminds me of what @casey909 said about contests making it work.