WORCESTER, Mass. — Katherine Aguilar has turned “reduce, reuse, recycle” into a thriving business. 

Two years ago, Aguilar founded K Sense Co., Worcester’s first plastic-free, low-waste business when she started cutting bottles and filling them with scented, natural soy wax. After the products grabbed the attention of customers, Aguilar expanded what was just an online custom candle site into an eco-conscious gift boutique, stocking products from 16 other all-women owned sustainability businesses.

K Sense grew from a place of necessity. When Aguilar was fired from her corporate job, she tapped into the skills she learned from business school and pivoted.

“I started making candles in my kitchen,” Aguilar said. “I started going to markets, and it all took off. I never went back to work.”

Around the time of opening K Sense, Aguilar was reading a book about zero-waste written by a Harvard Business School student. The book predicted what would happen to the environment and our ecosystem in the next ten years if sustainability weren’t a major tenet of everyday life.

“It was very important to me, from the beginning, that my company makes a difference on this planet,” Aguilar said. “I established this business to show other businesses that sustainability is the way of the future.”

In March of 2020, K Sense joined the Worcester Public Market. The store still specializes in soy wax candles in repurposed glass bottles, but it also serves as a platform for other local women and people of color in the Worcester area to sell their handcrafted jewelry, art and prints. Other offerings include jewelry, dog skincare soaps, and tote bags — all without plastic.

“It’s more of a personal challenge. Yes, we sell products without plastic,” Aguilar said, noting that sustainability takes effort on her part as well. “Even I’ve seen how much plastic I use in my day-to-day life: my coffee, bringing in food.”

Aguilar said that, personally, she has to think meticulously and slowly before making consumption decisions. To be plastic free beyond K Sense, she  has to plan out her entire day.

For the month of July, Aguilar challenged everyone in the community to be plastic-free.

“There’s just so much of it out there,” Aguilar said. “You don’t realize it until you challenge yourself to work without it.”

Aguilar said that many of her customers realized that the challenge is harder than it may seem, especially around Independence Day celebrations and other BBQs during the summer. Many folks use plastic, one-time-use products that are not as sustainable.

“I saw how much we use,” Aguilar said of her own family. “And we were being somewhat conscious of the items we were purchasing, so I can only imagine how much plastic was consumed on the Fourth of July.”

Sustainability is a constant exercise — even Aguilar had to reset twice that challenge within just a few weeks, but the key is to try. If she does use plastic, Aguilar brings it home to reuse. The first step is awareness, she said. You won’t be perfect, but at least you’re trying.