Evaporative emissions canister

Hi, I had a question about a part on my truck that a lot of people don't know much about, it's a small black box with 2 hoses and a wire that connects to it. Apparently it's called an evap canister, and the bracket that held mine in place rusted away completely and I couldn't get the canister to stay in place so I ended up disconnecting it and wrapping the wire end up.I haven't had any actual issues since, maybe my gas mileage is suffering, but I wanted to know if I need to reinstall another one or if it's okay to drive it without one? Everybody says it'll be fine without it. Would it improve performance or anything if I reinstalled it? I also have a hard time finding one online that looks like the one I took off. Thanks!