It didn’t start with hashtags or headlines. Earth Day began quietly, like most revolutions do. No branded campaigns, no polished PR. Just a growing unease, a demand for change, and a willingness to look at the damage we were doing to our only home.

In that spirit, COPALA doesn’t approach Earth Day as an event to be observed once a year. For us, it’s a design ethic. A way of thinking. A way of choosing deliberately, daily.

The Unlikely Origins of Earth Day

In 1969, after witnessing a devastating oil spill in Santa Barbara, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson envisioned a nationwide day of environmental awareness. Something modeled more on civil disobedience than celebration. It was to be a teach-in, not a trend.

The Santa Barbara Oil Spill: A Catalyst for Change

On January 28, 1969, a well drilled by Union Oil's Platform A off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, suffered a blowout. This disaster released more than four million gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean over 11 days, contaminating miles of coastline. The spill resulted in the deaths of thousands of seabirds, dolphins, seals, and sea lions, making it the largest oil spill in U.S. waters at the time. 

Volunteers cleaning up after the Santa Barbara oil spill

Credit: Santa Barbara Historical Museum

The national media extensively covered the catastrophe, bringing environmental issues to the forefront of public consciousness. The vivid images of oil-soaked wildlife and polluted beaches shocked the nation and highlighted the urgent need for environmental protections. 

Senator Gaylord Nelson's Vision

Witnessing the devastation firsthand, Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin was moved to take action. In August 1969, after speaking at a water quality conference in Santa Barbara, he toured the affected areas and was appalled by the environmental damage. 

During his flight back to Washington, D.C., Nelson read about the anti-Vietnam War teach-ins occurring on college campuses. This inspired him to propose a similar model focused on environmental education and activism. He envisioned a nationwide "environmental teach-in" to raise awareness and put environmental issues on the national agenda. 

Senator Gaylord Nelson speaking at the inaugural Earth Day in 1970, emphasizing the importance of environmental conservation.

Credit: Adirondack Almanack

Senator Gaylord Nelson receiving the Presidential Medal of Honor from President Bill Clinton 

Credit: Adirondack Almanack

Mobilizing a Movement

To bring his vision to life, Senator Nelson recruited Denis Hayes, a 25-year-old activist, to coordinate the event. Hayes assembled a team of organizers and engaged various stakeholders, including students, educators, and community leaders. They chose April 22, 1970, for the event, a date between Spring Break and final exams, to maximize student participation.

Credit: Click Americana

The response exceeded all expectations. On that day, approximately 20 million Americans, including students, teachers, and farmers stepped outside and participated in rallies, demonstrations, and educational programs nationwide, demanding greater attention to environmental issues. This outpouring of support led to critical legislative achievements, including establishing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the passage of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act.

Children of the Convent of the Sacred Heart School in Union Square (Associated Press)

On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans. They gathered in streets and parks not to talk about saving the planet, but to start reckoning with what they had already lost.

That was the beginning.

When the World Began to Listen

Earth Day went global in 1990, drawing participation from over 140 countries. In the following years, its meaning expanded: from U.S. policy shifts like the Clean Air and Water Acts to international climate agreements and grassroots actions across continents.

Some nations took it further:

• Japan quietly aligned its Midori no Hi (Greenery Day) with Earth Day’s spirit of reflection and respect for nature.
  

• Ecuador, home to the Galápagos Islands, was among the first to give nature constitutional rights.
  

• India turned Earth Day into a rolling classroom across 100+ cities through local chapters of the Earth Day Network.
  

• In 2009, the United Nations declared April 22 International Mother Earth Day, bringing indigenous perspectives to the forefront.
  
  

Meanwhile, press coverage evolved. Time called Earth Day 1970 a “nationwide teach-in.” In 1990, The New York Times called it “the planet’s coming-out party.” In recent years, Forbes has painted it as a corporate checklist. At COPALA, we see it differently: not a marketing moment, but a mirror.

What Earth Day Looks Like at COPALA

At COPALA, Earth Day isn’t a scheduled celebration. It’s an ongoing responsibility stitched into everything we do.

We create fewer things, but better. We build slowly, with purpose, with restraint. Our color palette is drawn from earth: sand, moss, sahara, clay. There is nothing seasonal about it. There is only continuity.

And while we don’t wave the green flag loudly, we work relentlessly behind the scenes to reduce our footprint and increase our integrity.

We:

• Recycle, upcycle, and turn old clothes into fertilizer, completing a full circle.
  

• Use innovative production materials that respect nature’s limits and respond to its future.
  

• Prevent waste from entering landfills and oceans, designing systems where clothing isn’t an endpoint, but a beginning.
  

• Commit to a Circular Fashion model—closing the loop between design, wear, and return to the earth.
  
  

It’s not perfect. But it’s progress. And it’s ours to make.

Craftsmanship as Quiet Protest

In an age of rapid everything, COPALA believes that slowness is strength. We aren’t interested in trend cycles. We’re interested in what endures.

Every piece we create is made to move through the world with dignity. We design for the journey, not the snapshot. And that journey, if it’s going to mean anything, must also be sustainable.

Not just in materials, but in mindset too.

A Wardrobe That Reflects the World You Want to Keep

What we wear speaks, whether we intend it to or not. At COPALA, we ask our clothing to reflect care. Respect. Intelligence. Responsibility.

That doesn’t mean we dress for the wilderness. It means we recognize the wilderness in all things. In the texture of stonewashed cotton. In the grit of a trail or the stillness of a coastline. We create for explorers—not of geography, but of self, of meaning, of a better way to belong to the world.

Earth Day, to us, is not a call to buy. It’s a call to be mindful. To choose depth over noise. To live and dress like the planet matters.

Because it does.

Looking Toward Earth Day 

What will Earth Day look like in another 50 years? Will it still be needed? Will it be too late?

We don’t know. But we believe in moving with hope. With hands that make carefully. With minds that think beyond quarterly goals. With clothes that earn their place in your life and leave the world no worse for having been made.

An Invitation

This Earth Day, on April 22nd, wherever you are, mountains, cliffs, coastlines, deserts, or cities, consider what you’re bringing with you. Not just in your backpack. But in your values. Your wardrobe. Your way of being.

At COPALA, we’re walking gently. Not perfectly, but purposefully. We hope you’ll join us.