This page is meant to provide only an introduction to the subject. An alternative to time capsules is archival storage of papers and photographs, thus carefully preserving such valuables in the home. With care, such valuables can be preserved in home living areas and closets. Attics and basements may subject valuables to harmful extremes in temperature and humidity.
Some experts think burial is a risky way to try to preserve valuables.
Nevertheless, the process of choosing items to save in a time capsule can bring people together in positive ways, provide a valuable learning experience and demonstrate ways that objects have meaning. Many of the suggestions for time capsules below apply to other long-term storage as well. If you are going to place the capsule in the ground or in a building cornerstone, you must take added precautions for materials to last more than a generation. Use an aluminum or stainless steel capsule housing. Mass. Seal the lid and end caps.