It seems like you can't trust the general population with the simplest things. These things say on the package that you can't flush them.

It seems like people just throw their electronic and other hazardous waste away without much consideration as well.

We end up sacrificing a lot for the lowest common denominator. We have to ban things, or license them, or regulate them, or have strict enforcement. Generally, if we can't do without it, like AC refrigerant, it sticks around with heavy penalties and still gets abused. If we can do without it, it just gets banned.