What to do before trashing a drab piece of Clothing

Once you determine you no longer want a piece of clothing, and it's not in good condition (can't donate); take a close look at it; is there anything worth saving for future projects? Buttons, zippers, beads, ribbons, the fabric itself?

Take for example this shoddy old sweater, I can 't salvage the fabric, but it does have 10 buttons; so I'll snip them off and save for later (when I figure out how to sew!)

salvaged!