Harrelson and wife in Maui Woody Harrelson lives off-grid in Hawaii and his plug-in Toyota RAV4 is his pride and joy, reports the London Sunday Times.
Harrelson keeps the Toyota in Los Angeles, but his main home is in Hawaii, where he has a VW Beetle that runs on biodiesel, and a motorbike, which he presumably has no choice but to run on dirty old petrol.
His Hawaii home is off-grid and runs on solar power. “Everybody in the neighbourhood is on solar power,” he says. “People get the concept that it’s like a commune, but this was a neighbourhood that’s been there long before I got there, and they just never wanted power lines.”
Electric cars and solar panels are just two of the more mainstream causes that Harrelson, 47, has been involved in. A vegan and raw-food enthusiast, he once scaled the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco to protest against deforestation, and is a campaigner for the cultivation of industrial hemp. In 1996 he was arrested in Kentucky after symbolically planting four hemp seeds to challenge the state law that failed to distinguish between the type of cannabis plant that can be used in food and materials, and cannabis the drug.
“Theoretically, you should be able to do whatever the hell you want as long as you’re not hurting someone else or hurting their property,” argues Harrelson. “Hemp is for farmers and they grow it for clothes and buildings and paint. To me it’s been a David and Goliath issue.”
Harrelson has found plenty to battle against over the years, beginning with a difficult childhood. Born in Midland, Texas, in 1961, his parents split when he was three and he and his two brothers were raised in Ohio by their mother. His father, Charles Voyde, was a contract killer. He was arrested in 1979 for shooting a federal judge and imprisoned for life. He died in his cell in March 2007.
Harrelson has been married for 10 years to Laura Louie, his former assistant and a co-founder of Yoganics, an organic food delivery service. They live mainly in Hawaii and have three young daughters. “There is so much feminine energy around,” he laughs. “I mean I’ve got three daughters, then my wife, and the nanny, and my dog is female and our two kittens are female. I feel just like drop-smack in the middle of all these amazing goddesses.”
The only thing getting Harrelson down right now is the US election. “I just find it hard to believe that there’s going to be any evolution of politics from within,” he says. “I just think the system is so corrupt. And now we’re still stuck in this Bush-like quagmire nightmare. I like [Barack] Obama. He seems a little outside the norm. But we’ll see what happens.”
5 Responses
That isn’t Woody Harrelson’s wife in the photo.
This IS the way to live! Good for the Harrelsons.
is this the real woody? i am on the big island. why would u go off-grid? NBK
Living in Hawaii off the grid – the ideal setup.
Look-up Einstein fridges on the net, then dream solar, then reduce your electric bill and improve your lot in life! The man is right! He is off-grid and not steak dependent! A happy state of affairs! Get right with sustainability while a gradual change is possible! A sudden and violent switch to a lesser lifestyle, will undoubtedly kill you! The paradigm shift coming to the folks in the Americas will astound us. and break our minds! Even government forces are preparing for the “Bust” with civil defense buildups, mock street wars, and battle hardened veterans lining up for duty! The Dollar, soon to fail, the food supply system soon to lose capitalization much as GM (America ) did,to ‘Gm (China) leaving Americans as “Legacy Workers” in soup kitchens across the land. The Factory Farms will close due to union interferences, corruption, cash shortages, payrolls not met. Housing foreclosures have already befallen a mystified American population,and put them right out into the streets while same buildings rot away! massive money printing sprees of our “fiat” based money have taken place, more will come, and the U.S. will sever into faction states vying for military supremacy, racial problems, financial equity and along Heath Care’s polarizing lines!The end is near, Congress, as constipated as ever, can’t move fast enough to save their own asses, and the country will fold into a sad Anarchy of sorts, pitting American against American and making them bitter rivals for time to come! Folks living off-grid will not suffer as much and folks not so dependent on the “System” for red-beef dailies, will survive! The Air-conditioned “Fatted Calves” will be rendered for fuel for Chinese diesel in military Tanks in the clean-up in the end, if their neighbors don’t get them for fuel first!