Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 12 : Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Thursday applauded the efforts of around 700 volunteers of the state run sanitation initiative Suchithwa Mission for their efforts in making the ongoing 35th National Games a 'green' event.

He said it was because of the mission's stupendous work that creation of around 600 metric tons of waste was avoided.

The Suchithwa Mission initiative oversaw the serving of hygienic food at the 30 venues of the Games in clean and recyclable cutlery, he said.

Chandy also praised the mission for distributing hot and cold drinks to spectators in stainless steel tumblers instead of serving them in disposable containers that would have polluted the environment and produced 600 MT of toxic waste.

The Games began Jan 31 and end Saturday.

"The volunteers were specifically trained on hygiene maintenance, disinfection and service," Chandy said.