Appliance Depot is seeking donations of used appliances from Whatcom County residents. In recent months, the demand for inexpensive refurbished appliances has been outstripping the depot’s supply of donations.

The nonprofit appliance salvage and job-training store, located at 802 Marine Drive in Bellingham, provided training and jobs to more than 40 low-income residents in 2011.

“When you buy a new appliance and your installer takes away your old machine to be recycled, we are losing a local resource. Your appliance will be destroyed, crushed and shipped out of our community, most likely to China,” depot director Thoren Rogers said, in a Jan. 26 press release. “If we could collect even half of the replaced machines, it would be a big boost for employing low-income residents.”

Rogers said it is better for both the local economy and the environment for consumers to try and reuse appliances rather than have them recycled.

Appliance Depot is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is online at www.reuseworks.org.

Rogers can be reached at 527-2646 or by email at TRogers@reuseworks.org.