To salvage is to recover from the trash. Salvage operations
involve recovering something from something which was thought to be
hopelessly lost or broken. Salvaging is the process of doing
so.
Examples:
"Deep sea divers will be salvaging the brass fittings from the
sunken ship."
"We can save a lot of money by salvaging the engine from the old
car before sending it to the scrap heap."
"I've been salvaging the rubber bands from the broccoli we buy
so there is no need to buy rubber bands."
"The kids made enough money to go on a trip by salvaging pop
bottles people had thrown out and by selling them to a
recycler."
"Our December promotion of blaze orange underwear was a
disaster, but I am thinking of salvaging something from it by
donating the underwear to a homeless shelter and getting some
publicity."
