What actually goes inside a Care Canister
A tennis ball tube holds more than you'd think. Here's the full list, and why each item is on it.
A Care Canister starts as rubbish. An empty tennis ball tube, left in a bin at a club, on its way to landfill. Then it becomes a container, and the container gets filled.
The list
Every canister carries hygiene essentials chosen because they're the things that disappear first when you don't have a bathroom of your own:
- Toothpaste and a toothbrush
- Deodorant
- Soap or body wash
- Shampoo
- Undergarments
- Cotton pads and Q-tips
- A grooming item — comb, shaving cream, razor
- Bandaids
- Fingernail clippers
And the part people remember
Every canister also carries a handwritten note. Not printed. Written, by a volunteer, in their own handwriting, to someone they will never meet.
It is the cheapest item in the tube and the one that gets mentioned most.
Why a tennis tube
It's the right shape, it's waterproof, it's already free, and it was going to be thrown away. Repurposing it means the program's core material costs nothing and diverts something from landfill on the way.
