Jacquelyn Ottman, president and founder of J. Ottman Consulting, shared four green marketing predictions for 2008 in a recent Advertising Age article.

1. Ottman predicts the slowdown or end of the use of meaningless green marketing terms, claims of carbon offsetting (until standards can be set), and the creation of private eco-labels (such as Home Depot’s Eco-Options ).

2. More electronics companies will create take-back programs and reduce the use of toxic chemicals in order to market themselves as green.

3. More green products will be marketed in order to satisfy retailer demands for less packaging and less energy use. Standard green marketing claims will take a back seat to pitches based on such things as higher performance levels, aesthetics and cost effectiveness.

4. Green products sales will soar behind the major brand acquisitions that we’ve seen lately (Clorox buying Burt’s Bees and Colgate snapping up Tom’s of Maine are two examples), which will help increase sales of green stand-alones like Method and Seventh Generation.