CONSERVATION -- The 8th annual Spokane River Cleanup last weekend was a big success. 

There's no official report yet from the Friends of the Falls regarding the amount of garbage the hundreds of volunteers collected to spiff up the river through Spokane Valley down  to the gorge.  But some trash talk is ciculating.

For example, pictured above are the second-place award winners in the "Most Spokane Piece of Trash" cateogory with their impressive "River-Bogged Phonebooth." 

The proud garbage collectors --  representing GreenCupboards.com -- had to haul the heavy hunk of vandalism litter up a steep bank.

GreenCupboards.com began 3 years ago as a "science experiment" in a Gonzaga University entrepreneurship class. With the vision of Josh Neblett, a Gonzaga University graduate of the class of 2008, and the guidance of his ad-junct professor, Tom Simpson, the company has grow to over 40 employees. A large focus has been placed on fostering young, local talent with an average age of 24. Themission of the company from the beginning has been to provide environmentally friendly products, at competitive prices, while giving back to the community. We hope you find these pictures helpful in telling the great story of the Spokane RiverCleanup 2011 and would be honored if you passed our story on to anyone and everyone.