Noah Fulmer, executive director of Farm Fresh Rhode Island, talks about how his organization’s Web site shows restaurants and farms working together to provide and serve local produce.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

WARWICK — Ship food scraps to pig farms. Capture rainwater in rooftop cisterns. Serve oysters raised in Narragansett Bay.

Those were some of the tips offered to innkeepers yesterday at a study session for a new state exam that aims to measure, for the first time, the environmental impact of local hotels.

The test, a lengthy survey about business practices and infrastructure, is voluntary. But the chance to win recognition as one of the state’s “greenest” hotels drew a crowd to the Sheraton Providence Airport Hotel, where hoteliers learned the path to a high score.

The advice covered a range of operational practices. Alyson Silva, recycling coordinator for the state Department of Environmental Management, urged hotel managers to serve soda from a fountain, rather than in plastic bottles, and to use refillable condiment containers instead of individual packets.

Leftover food, Silva said, should be diverted from the trash barrel and hauled to food pantries, composted on site or passed to farmers who will convert it to animal feed.

The remaining refuse should not be rushed to the Dumpster either, according to Sarah Kite, recycling manager for the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, the independent agency that runs the landfill.

Yesterday, she urged hotel managers — including representatives from the Hotel Providence and the Providence Biltmore Hotel — to pick through their trash, during so-called waste audits, to hunt for other recyclable items.

“This is a really important step in bringing Rhode Island into the next stage of the green wave that is taking over the country,” Kite said.

The Green Certification program, announced in November at the annual meeting of the Providence Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau, also pushes energy conservation.

To earn a high ranking on the survey, hotels are being asked to alter their lighting, heating, cooling and ventilation systems, and to replace equipment in their restaurant kitchens.

National Grid, the dominant electricity and natural-gas supplier in Rhode Island, will help businesses cover some of the cost of some of those upgrades. The British firm offers rebates for the purchase of energy-efficient fryers, for example, as well as free energy audits to identify wasteful appliances and systems.

In the end, however, hotel owners will have to absorb most of the financial burden, particularly those operating historic structures with ancient mechanical systems and poor insulation.

But in pitching the survey, supporters have been focusing on the potential cost savings from going green.

Many trash haulers, Kite said, will purchase used cardboard and aluminum. Recycling tin cans, plastic bottles and glass, she said, lowers the bills charged for dumping at the landfill.

“Finally, recycling is paying off,” Kite said. “There is money to be made.”

Reducing wastewater will also pay off financially, David Aucoin, of the Narragansett Bay Commission, told hotel owners at yesterday’s seminar. In his presentation, he recommended low-flow faucets, showerheads and toilets, increased vigilance about leaks, and campaigns to persuade guests to use sheets and towels more than once between washings.

“There is literally money going down the drain,” Aucoin said. (The Narragansett Bay Commission operates wastewater treatment plants in Providence and East Providence.)

Backers of the Green Certification program say sustainable practices will appeal to a growing pool of travelers who are committed to limiting the environmental toll of their trips.

National surveys have raised questions about those claims. In polls, few travelers say they base their buying decisions on a company’s environmental record, and even fewer say they would pay more to patronize a greener business. Rhode Island companies that have cut their energy usage or ramped-up recycling have not reported spikes in sales.

But yesterday, speakers and participants said they expected their efforts to help the bottom line, especially if they receive a high ranking in April, when the Rhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association announces the survey results.

In evaluating the questionnaires, state officials will assign points for every criteria the hotels meet. Those that swear off chemicals in their gardens, for example, will earn 5 points. Using compact fluorescent bulbs is worth 15.

A hotel that accumulates at least 100 of the nearly 600 possible points will be recognized as an “environmental leader,” a title it can advertise with a window decal. The designation will also be listed on a state Web site.

“There are big marketing opportunities,” Terrence D. Gray, assistant director for air, waste and compliance at the Department of Environmental Management, said. “It is not a fad.”

Two years ago, when the Vanderbilt hotel in Newport was remodeled, the owners bought recycled carpeting and low-flow fixtures. “In a competitive world, it’s a great advantage to have,” Gene-Michael Addis, the regional manager of the Vanderbilt, said yesterday.

“We tell our guests the steps we have taken and we advertise it,” Addis said. “It makes a big difference.”

At The Newport Harbor Hotel, the owners said they plan to install dimmable compact fluorescent lights, although they cost nearly four times as much as less-efficient incandescent bulbs and fixtures.

James L. Carr, the hotel’s chief engineer, said the cost savings factored into the decision. But, he said, the hotel is also looking for steps it can point to when asked by convention organizers about its green policies.

“Most of the government groups,” Carr said, “are coming and asking about new initiatives.”

bgedan@projo.com